Paramount Network’s flagship series Yellowstone returned for a second season last night with 2.4 million Live+same day viewers, 1.13 rating among adults 25-54 and .79 adults 18-49 rating.

The sprawling Kevin Costner drama was just off its 2018 series premiere’s record-setting viewership for Paramount Network (2.8 million), matching the L+SD audience for the Season 1 finale, while rising across all key demos and setting new series highs in adults 25-54 and 18-49, men 25-54 and 18-49 and women 18-49.

Across the night, Yellowstone amassed a gross average audience of 3.9 million total viewers, including the Paramount Network premiere and encores, in addition to a CMT simulcast and TV Land encore to rank as the #1 most-watched original cable premiere so far this summer.

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The total premiere night viewership is on par with Yellowstone‘s Season 1 premiere night total, which only factored in the debut and encores on Paramount Network. Underscoring the ongoing integration among Viacom cable networks, the Season 2 opener got additional exposure on two other nets this year.

Here are the L+SD demo ratings for the Yellowstone season two premiere, along with the double-digit increases from the Season 1 debut they posted. The drama from Taylor Sheridan has been a big DVR gainer. We will update the Season 2 premiere ratings once its L+3 tally is available.

Yellowstone also was the #1 most social cable drama last night, with 45,000 interactions. On Twitter, the series recorded 20,000 mentions, up +10% from the series premiere.

Co-created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson, Yellowstone follows the Dutton family, led by John Dutton (Oscar winner Costner), who controls the largest contiguous ranch in the United States, under constant attack by those it borders – land developers, an Indian reservation, and America’s first National Park.